The unending controversy over Sardar Sarovar is uniquely reflected into
every decision and news on the Project. The news related to the meeting of
the interstate Review Committee is the latest indicator of the baseless and
farcical decision-making and execution that is on, by the shrewd
politicians with sheer vested interests and not public interest in mind.

Has the Review Committee approved construction beyond 90mts? The answer is
NO. Some Gujarathi and other language newspapers report this as failure of
Gujarat Government while others, basing their reports or the official
public relation notes, has declared 10 mts rise as sanctioned. The fact is,
with thousands of families in the three states, to be affected at 100 mts
but not rehabilitated, there is no way the bureaucrats, hands in gloves
with the politicians, sanction any further construction at this stage, if
not never. The adivasi villages in the difficult terrain to those in the
plains as also the thickly populated farmer villages can't be rehabilitated
without alternative agricultural land, which is not available.

The Committee consisting of all concerned Chief Ministers know the reality.
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, however, has come to compromise the
interests of his state and thousands of adivasis, farmers, fishworkers,
small traders, artisans and labourers. Maharashtra is known to be
submitting to pressures against Enron. Whom are these so called elected
representatives bluffing? That there are hundreds of families affected at
80 mts and a few thousand (35,000 and more) families at 90 mts, not yet
rehabilitated is not only the ground reality but the reality undoubtedly
accepted by the NCA officials during their hours long dialogue with
hundreds of representatives on Aug. 6th (Indore) and Aug 14th (Domkhedi,
Maharashtra). Both the Chairman, Rehabilitation Sub Group of NCA and the
Member (Rehabilitation and Environment) NCA had time and again denied
having given any permission even for raise upto 90 mts. The Court, however,
either inadvertently or deliberately, wrongly referred to the
Rehabilitation Sub Group's sanction and permitted 90 mts height.

Decision of humps: NBA vindicated again

The latest agreement in the Review Committee, reached among the states is
important since by admitting that with 3 mts humps, the height reached is
93 and not 90 mts, is a vindicative of NBA's view point. As per the
judgment, therefore, all the project affected families at 93 mts (not less
than 5000 families in 3 states) should have been rehabilitated by December
2000 ie, 6 months before the submergence to be faced this monsoon. This
hasn't and couldn't happen since there is basically no land for
rehabilitation as per the policy. What else but a serious violation of the
judgment and contempt of Court is this? The Chief Ministers and the state
governments will have to answer this before any forum for justice, as a
corollary to their decision on 'humps and its impacts'.

Impossibility of Rehabilitation

The public announcement that the high level Review Committee met and
decided to have rehabilitation of all affected upto 100 mts by December
2001 is more than laughable. This kind of unrealistic schedules are
declared by the governments time and again, with no other intention but to
intimidate the organised tribal and peasants in the valley and to bluff the
voter population in Gujarat. When the Governments in spite of all pressures
and persuasion, withdrawal of the World Bank and stay on dam construction
by the Court couldn't relocate more than 25% of 45,000 and more families
(as per Government) over 22 years and 40,000 remain in the reservoir
affected area of SSP still, when all those relocated (about 8000 families)
are not yet rehabilitated as many were cheated in the process and thousands
of other, mostly tribal families, are affected by colony, canal, sanctuary,
afforestation and other project related works; there is no way that
thousands of families could be rehabilitated within next 3 months. A joke
that SSP and its issues have become can entertain all but kill the people
to whom even basic right to life and livelihood is not granted.

All the issues including one of 'bypass tunnel' and 'privatisation of SSP'
no doubt were debated in the meeting but no clue to the interstate conflict
is given to the common people. The veil of secrecy however is ruptured when
one reads the message that comes through various, even contradictory,
reports. That there is no money to build the power project and hence either
the distant needy regions of Kutch Saurashtra will not get the benefits as
the financial viability is bound to affect other works on water supply side
as well or the undue escalation of prices of privatised power would be
unbearable to consumers and unacceptable even to Maharashtra and Madhya
Pradesh states who are to even otherwise pay enormous social, environmental
and financial cost for unreliable, ever decreasing power generation. While
such an incomplete, ill-conceived project will be a burden even on Gujarat,
killing the alternatives cheap, short term and participatory, the lives of
all those to be sacrificed are at stake. It's this and not the fake
decisions and announcements of the meeting of Chief Ministers that NBA is
fighting against. The fight will continue and SSP will remain stalled at 90
mts, even beyond 2001.